Archive for March, 2018

I find this op-ed infuriating. The writer explains the change in mindset that takes place as you learn to use a gun for self-defense:

Your thought-process starts to change. Yes, if someone tried to break into your house, you know that you’d call 911 and pray for the police to come quickly, but you also start to think of exactly what else you’d do. If you heard that “bump” in the night, how would you protect yourself until the police arrived? You’re surprised at how much safer you feel with the gun in the house.

He may feel safer, but statistics show that he isn’t, in fact, safer. People who mistake perceived safety with actual safety really get my goat.

But even worse, he’s describing the culture that leads a nmentallyunstavle individual to hoard guns and think about using them against those who they perceive as having wronged them vs some other–possibly equally horrible but less deadly–outlet for their feelings.

At the end of this process, your life has changed for the better. Your community has expanded to include people you truly like, who’ve perhaps helped you through a tough time in your life, and you treasure these relationships. You feel a sense of burning conviction that you, your family, and your community are safer and freer because you own and carry a gun.

The guy really needs to join a church or even a bowling team.

As a redditor commented recently:

Many people own firearms in America to protect themselves from ‘bad people.’ This could be a range of people from home invaders to a potentially tyrannical government. When gun ownership for the purposes of killing bad people is a cultural norm, then you cannot be surprised when somebody shoots who they see as the bad people, even if you don’t think those people are bad people.